House Committee Approves Bill to End Federal Funding for Abortions

On March 3, the House Judiciary Committee approved, 23-14, the No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion Act (H.R. 3). The Constitution Subcommittee held a hearing on the bill on February 8 (see The Source, 2/11/11).

As amended, the bill would permanently eliminate federal funding for abortion except in cases of rape, incest, or to protect the life and health of the mother. Current law, also known as the Hyde Amendment, prohibits federal funding for abortions, but is not permanent and must be attached to appropriations legislation each year.

The bill would prohibit:

• Federal funding for health insurance plans that provide abortion services;
• Federal tax benefits for individuals who pay for insurance plans that include abortion services;
• The District of Columbia from using locally raised funds to provide abortion services for low-income women;
• Discrimination against health care providers who refuse to provide such services; and
• Abortions from being performed in federal facilities or by federal employees.

During consideration of the bill, the committee adopted, by voice vote, a substitute amendment to permit federal funding of abortions in cases of rape and incest. The original legislation would have permitted such funding in instances of “forcible rape” and when the incest victim was a minor. The substitute amendment would clarify that health care providers can treat women for complications arising from, or exacerbated by, an abortion and that the bill does not require state and local government to provide or pay for an abortion or a health insurance plan that includes abortion coverage.

Several of the amendments offered during the mark-up focused on section 303 of the bill, which would prohibit any tax benefits – credits or deductions – from being granted for amounts paid or incurred for an abortion or for a health plan that covers abortion. The provision also includes amounts paid into tax-preferred trusts or accounts, such as health savings accounts. The committee rejected:

• An amendment by Rep. Jerrold Nadler (D-NY) to strike section 303, 14-20;
• An amendment by Rep. Nadler to prevent section 303 from taking effect until the president determines that the taxes imposed would not increase, 14-19;
• An amendment by Rep. Nadler to ensure that section 303 would not apply to employer-provided health insurance plans, 13-22;
• An amendment by Rep. Nadler to ensure that section 303 does not affect self-employed individuals, 13-22;
• An amendment by Rep. Hank Johnson (D-GA) to exempt individual taxpayers, as opposed to trades or businesses, from section 303, 14-19;
• An amendment by Rep. Mike Quigley (D-IL) to strike section 303 unless the president certifies before January 1, 2014, that it would not affect the availability of abortion coverage offered by private health insurers or group health plans that are not eligible for tax credits under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (P.L. 148), 12-21; and
• An amendment by Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-FL) to ensure that section 303 does not apply to small businesses, 14-22.

The committee also defeated several amendments that related to other provisions of the bill, including:

• An amendment by Rep. John Conyers (D-MI) to remove the prohibition on the District of Columbia using its own funds to provide abortion services, 13-18;
• Two en bloc amendments by Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee (D-TX) to prevent the implementation of H.R. 3 until the attorney general certifies that the bill does not violate constitutionally guaranteed rights, and to permit abortions in instances where continuing the pregnancy would cause “severe and long-lasting damage” to the woman’s health, 15-19;
• An amendment by Rep. Nadler to extend the bill’s nondiscrimination provisions to health care providers that provide abortion services, 13-19;
• An amendment by Rep. Johnson to prohibit implementation of H.R. 3 until the attorney general certifies that it would not affect women’s access to abortion services and health insurance plans that include abortion coverage, 11-18;
• An amendment by Rep. Judy Chu (D-CA) to clarify that health care providers must comply with the Emergency Medical Treatment and Active Labor Act (P.L. 99-272), 14-21;
• An amendment by Rep. Chu to ensure that the bill would not restrict a woman’s access to all relevant information about available medical options, violate principles of informed consent, or breach medical ethical standards, by voice vote; and
• An amendment by Rep. Wasserman Schultz to permit federal funds to be used for abortions when a woman’s cancer treatment is incompatible with continuing the pregnancy, 15-21.